Splicing machine and method



July 19, 1960 Filed June 1'7. 1955 J. OBERAUER SPLICING MACHINE AND M ETHOD s sheets-sheet 1 IN V EN TOR. 11am 02mm -26mm HJMJ.

' ATTORNEK July 19, 1960 J. OBERAUER SPLICING MACHINE AND M ETHOD INVENTOR. lIoHN OBsRAuEm M g 74ml.

' A TTORN K Filed June 17, 1955 y 1 1960 J. OBERAUER v 2,945,462

SPLICING MACHINE AND METHOD Filed June 17, 1955 3 Sheets-Sheet 3 INVENTOR. dorm Onmvzn,

. TTORNfK nite SPLICING MACHINE AND METHOD Filed June 17 1955, Ser. No. 516,293

17 Claims. (Cl. 113-1-1) This. invention relates to an apparatus and method for splicing strip material, and more particularly, to an apparatus and method for accomplishing a flying splice whereby strip material is spliced while in motion.

In many arts, machines or devices are in general use which operate continuously upon strip material which is fed thereto from, for instance, storage rolls. When a length of such strip material from one source becomes exhausted, it is desirable that the leading endof another length of strip material shall have been spliced thereto in order to avoid stopping the machine or device with consequent loss of operating time to effect the splice.

In many instances, it is not possible or practical to effect the splice until a very short time before passage through the machine or device of the trailing end of the length of strip material becoming exhausted. For example, strip material is often supplied in the form'of a coil and the trailing end thereof is inaccessible until the. coilis completely unwound. Accordingly, it'is a primary object ofthis invention to provide an improved apparatus and method for splicing strip material withoutstopping operation of a machine or device for operating continuously upon such strip material.

A further object of my invention is to provide a method of and means for feeding a'strip of material to an apparatus for operating upon said strip of material contemporaneously with operation thereof on another strip of material being fed to said apparatus.

A further object of my invention is to provide an improved punch anddie, means.

Further objects will become apparent as the description proceeds.

To the accomplishmentof the above and related objects, my invention may be embodied in the form illustrated in the accompanying drawings, attention being called to the fact, however, that the drawings are illustrative only, and that change may be made in the specific construction illustrated and described, and in the specific steps stated, so long as the scope of the appended claims is not violated.

Fig. 1 is a perspective view of an embodiment of my improved splicing apparatus, parts being broken away for clarity of illustration;

Fig. 2 is an enlarged, fragmentary, elevational view of a portion of my improved apparatus, showing the relationship of certain of the parts'thereof during movement of the hood to operative position;

Fig. 3 is an elevational view of my improved'splicing apparatus taken from the right hand side'of Fig. lfwith the hood and associated parts in operative position;

Fig. 4 is a perspective view of a portionof my improved apparatus, said apparatus embodying means for positively driving the shaft on which the punch plates are mounted;

Fig. 5 is a plan view of the stationary die'memberof my splicing apparatus;

Fig. 6 is a plan view of a splice as-elfected by my improved machine; and

rates PatentUf 5 2,945,462 Patented July 19,1960

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Fig. 7 is an enlarged, longitudinal sectionalv view thereof.

The specific embodiment disclosed herein is particularly adapted for operating upon paper strip to beuscd in, making plaster board or plaster lath, but it is obvious that the invention may be applied for operation upon various other materials such as sheet metal, foil, etc.

In manufacturing plaster board and plaster lath, the widths of paper used may be approximately sixteen, twenty-four or forty-eight inches. By way of example, it is noted that when plaster lath is made, it may be desirable that three side-by-side strips of paper, each sixteen inches wide, be operated upon simultaneously; and it is "often necessary that each strip be spliced independently of the other two. 'To accommodate this arrangement, my improved splicing machine 'is shown as comprising three, side-by-side, independently operable sections A, B and C, respectively, whereby each of the three strips may be operated upon by one of the sections independently of each of the others. When manufacturing plaster board requiring paper strip having a width of sixteen inches, only a single section need be utilized. When operating upon paper strip twenty-four inches wide, two sections would be used; and, of course, when operating upon strip material forty-eight inches wide, all three sections would be employed simultaneously.

Each of sections A, B and C may be, and preferably is, identical in structure and function with respect tofthe other two. Therefore, in describing certain parts of the disclosed embodiment, "a detailed description of those parts-of only one of these sections will be necessary for a complete understanding of the invention.

Each section may include a hood or guard housing 11 freely pivotally mounted on a shaft 12 which may be freely rotatably journalled in bearing brackets 13, 13 (only one of which is shown in Fig. l) fixed with respect to'frame 10. An aperture in hood 11, through which convenient access'to the interior of the hood is provided, is suitably removably covered by a plate 14.

Referring to Figs. 1, 2 and 3, it will be seen that a bearing bracket 15 at each side of hood 11 rotatably supports a die member including a punch shaft 16. Fixedly mounted on punch shaft 16 is a plurality of mutually spaced, sharp-cornered, polygonal punch plates. Each'of the sharp corners of the punch plates provides a radial projection 18' which, by virtue of the rotatable mounting of each of punch plates 17, is arcuately mov- -able. As the description proceeds, it will become ap- 17-is in the form of asquare having four sharp corners.

As shown, each punch plate 17 of each section is arcuately or rotatably misaligned forty-five degrees with respect to its immediatelyneighboring punch plates. The purpose'ofthis arrangement will be made clear later in this description.

-A pin 21 projects outwardly'from each'side of hood 11 and rockably mounts a lever or arm 22. The lower end of an elongated eye-bolt 23 is secured in adjusted threaded engagement with an aperture in each of levers 22, 22 by means of a jam nut 24. The end of each of levers 22 to which an Jeye-bolt 23 is secured is biased upwardly by means of a tension spring 25; which spring 'is secured at one end to the eye of bolt 23 and at the biased end of each of levers 22. This means takes the {form of a stop screw 27in threaded engagement with an aperture in boss 26, thescrewbeingmaintained in adjusted position by means of a jam nut 28. A shaft '31 extends between the downwardly biased ends of levers 22, 22, and has mounted thereon freely rotatable pressure rollers 32. Rollers 32 may be provided with tires 33 formed preferably of a resilient rubberoid material.

It is apparent from the above described construction that springs 25 not only resiliently bias the rockable element comprising levers 22, 22 and shaft 31 for downward movement of the pressure rollers 32, but also bias the major portion of hood 11 pivotally upwardly about shaft 12. To move pressure rollers 32, and the upper rotatable die member which comprises punch plates 17, downwardly into operative position from their normally upward inoperative position, fluid-operated means now to be described is provided.

A pair of brackets 35, 35 are supported in fixed relation on hood 11, and pivotally mount a pin 36 therebetween. A rod 37 is secured to pin 36 at one end, and at the other end fixedly supports a threaded member 39. Member 39 with members 38 and 40 form a conventional turnbuckle which may be adjusted to vary the effective length of the fluid-operated means for shifting hood 11 against the tendency of springs 25. Member 40 is fixedly secured to a piston 41, and is provided with threads of opposite hand with respect to the threads proa jam nut in threaded engagement with each of members 39 and 40 may be tightened into abutting relation with each end of member 38 to retain the fluid-operated means at its adjusted effective length.

Piston 41 extends into cylinder 42 in telescoping relation therewith. Cylinder 42 is pivotally mounted on a pin 43 which extends between a pair of spaced bracket members 44 (only one of which is shown in Fig. 1) fixedly secured with respect to frame 10. Air under pressure is supplied to the rearward end of cylinder 42 by means of a flexible conduit 45 secured to fitting 46 which is in communication with the interior of a manifold 47. Manifold 47 communicates through a fitting 48 with a supply (not shown) of fluid under pressure such as air. A conventional, electrically-operated, three-Way valve means 50 is provided by each of fittings 46. Through conventional circuit means, the valve means 50 of the fitting 46 of any of the three sections may be independently opened by depressing a particular one of four push-buttons provided by a control box 51 conveniently mounted on frame 10. The fourth push-button is provided to open all three valves simultaneously. It is apparent that when the valve means 50 of any one of the fittings 46 is opened, air under pressure forces the associated piston 41 outwardly with respect to its re spective cylinder 42, to move pressure rollers 32 and the rotatable die member downwardly into operative position. Upon closure of any of the valves, the air under pressure in the associated cylinder bleeds off to permit return of the hood and pressure rollers of that section to inoperative position under the action of its springs 25.

A stationary die member 54 is fixedly mounted with respect to frame 10. Referring particularly to Fig. 5, it will be seen that three groups of slots 55, one group for each section, is provided at the leading edge of stationary die member 54. Each of the slots may have a closed rearward edge and each slot may extend therefrom forwardly, with respect to the direction of movement of the strip material, through the leading edge of die member 54. Accordingly, the forwardmost edge of each of the slots may be open. Stationary die member 54 may extend rearwardly to terminate in a downwardly curved portion 62. An output table 63 may be provided with upwardly turned sides 64 to guide the strip material 56 forwardly from the splicing apparatus. An upper sheetmetal' guard member 65 is relatively fixed with respect to table 63. Member 65 is parallel with and spaced above table 63, and provides additional guiding means for the moving strip material. A pair of driven pinch rolls 57, 57, more or less diagrammatically illustrated in Fig. 3, is shown as providing the means for continuously pulling the strip material through the splicing apparatus. Of course, the particular means for continuously feeding the strip material through the splicing apparatus is immaterial with respect to the function of my improved machine; and, in fact, may constitute a part of a machine which performs a work operation on the strip material.

In order to splice the leading end of a new supply of strip material 76 to the trailing end of a strip of material 56 soon to become exhausted, the leading end of paper strip 76 is placed in superposed relation with respect to paper strip 56 as shown in Fig. 2. As the trailing edge of continuously fed strip 56 approaches my improved splicing die members, the hood 11 of the appropriate section is pivoted downwardly about shaft 12 by pressing the appropriate push-button provided by control box 51 whereby the valve means 50 for the appropriate fitting 46 is opened and the associated piston 41 is extended outwardly from cylinder 42. As hood 11 swings downwardly, pressure rollers 32 first come into contact with the mutually superposed ends of strips 56 and 76 as shown in Fig. 2. Thereby, the leading end portion of strip 76 is pressed into frictional, relatively fixed, mutually superimposed engagement with the trailing end portion of strip 56 whereby movement of strip 56, which is being continuously fed (by means such as pinch rolls 57, 57), effects concomitant movement there with of strip 76. -As hood 11 continues to pivot downwardly from the position shown in Fig. 2 to that shown in Fig. 3, the upper rotatable die member moves into operative relationship with stationary die member 54. The mutually adjacent edges of each of the slots provided in stationary die member 54 and the corners or projections 18 of the punch plates 17 aligned therewith, as these projections approach the slot with which they As the superimposed, relatively fixed portions of strips 56 and 76 ride over the upper surface of stationary die member 54, the downwardly disposed projections 18 on the rotatable die member being lowered are projected through the strips and are thereby caused to move arcuately, at

substantially the same lineal speed as the strips, to bring following punch projections 18 successively into penetrating engagement with the moving strip material. It is apparent that, so long as the projections 18 provided by each of the individual rotatable die members are relatively angularly or arcuately displaced with respect to each other sufliciently that at least one projection is disposed in engagement with the continuously moving strip material in any rotational position assumed by said rotatable die member, the continuous movement of the strip material along the upper surface of the stationary die member will continuously rotatably drive said rotatable die member, provided the tear strength of the strip material is sufficient to transmit such a driving force.

Arcuate movement of each projection into and through its aligned slot shears or tears a tab from each of the superposed strips, which tabs are integral, at their leading edges, with the strips from which they are formed and depressed to one side of the mutually superimposed strip portions. When operating upon material which is comparatively readily severable, it is apparent that it is immaterial whether or not the rearward edge of each of the slots is closed as shown in the drawing, because such material will be severed at the rearward edge of each tab by the extreme radially outward edge of the particular material severing projection 18 whether or not it is backed up by a rearwardly closed slot edge. Also, the forward edge of each of the slots may be closed so long as that edge is disposed sufliciently forwardly to be out of the zone of influence of each of the punch projections 18 as it moves through the slot.

Since each punch plate 17 provides a plurality of radial projections 18, and each section provides a plurality of punch plates, a plurality of pairs of superposed, spaced tabs 77, 78 is produced in the overlapped portions of strips 56 and 76. After a suflicient number of pairs of tabs has been formed, hood 11 is caused to return to its upwardly biased position by releasing the depressed push-buttons provided by control box 51, whereby pressure rollers 32 and punch plates 17 are moved out of operative relation with stationary die member 54. Thereby, the pressure exerted by pressure rollers 32 which forces the leading end of strip 76 into frictional, relatively fixed, superimposed engagement with the trailing end of strip 56 is terminated, and continued movement of strip 56 due to feeding means 57 tends to move strip 56 forwardly relative to strip 76. It is apparent from Fig. 7 that this relative movement between strips 56 and 76, respectively, tends to bring the trailing edges of the slots formed in strip 56 into abutting engagement with the corresponding tabs 78 of strip 76, thereby to maintain said strips in relatively interlocked relationship.

Material such as plaster may subsequently be applied on one side of the spliced strip material. Since, as is apparent from Figs. 6 and 7, the slots or openings formed in the strip material by the formation of the tabs are practically sealed by those tabs, leakage of the plaster or other material through the slots or openings is substantially prevented.

The number and spacing of pairs of tabs required to effect a satisfactory splice varies with the kind of strip material being spliced.

If desired, means may be provided for positively driving the rotatable die member of each section instead of relying upon motion of the strip material being fed to rotate the punch plates. Under certain circumstances, such as when the strip material being operated upon is not sufiiciently strong'to rotate the punch shaft Without untoward damage to the material as it is drawn through the apparatus, it may be necessary that the punch shaft 16 be positively driven. For this purpose, as shown in Fig. 4, a sprocket 66 is provided for each section in relatively fixed relation to the punch shaft. An endless chain 67 is trained over sprocket 66 and over a sprocket 68. Sprocket 68 is aligned with sprocket 66 and fixed with respect to shaft 12. A sprocket 69 is suitably fixed with respect to one end of shaft 12, and an endless chain 70 is trained over sprocket 69 and sprocket 71 aligned therewith. As shown, sprocket'71 is fixed on shaft 72 which is driven by motor 73 suitably mounted on a portion of frame 10; or sprocket 69 may be driven by suitable means synchronized, with the strand-forwarding means 57. At any rate, shaft 16 will be driven at a speed such as to synchronize the rotational velocity of the punch plate projections 18 with the lineal velocity -of the strip material. The operation of the machine is not materially changed by thus positively driving the shafts 16, except that before lowering one ormore of the hoods 11 to bring the pressure rollers 32 and rotatable die members into operative relationship with the stationary die member, motor 73 will be energized to positively drive all three punch shafts 16. i

I claim as my invention:

1. An apparatus comprising a stationary die member, means for moving strip material continuously past said die member in a predetermined direction, said die member having a slot elongated in said direction, a second die member adjacent said stationary die member and including a projecting portion, and means. mounting said projecting portion for arcuate movement generally in said direct-ion and substantially at the lineal velocity of material movement past said stationary die member, to enter, traverse and withdraw from said slot, the mutually adjacent edges of said slot and said projection, as said projection approaches said slot, providing material severing edges whereby the trailing edge of a tab which is thereby formed integral with the material is depressed below the level of the portion of the material from which the tab was formed.

2. An apparatus comprising a stationary die member, means for moving strip material continuously past said die member in a predetermined direction, said die member being provided with slot means elongated in said direction, a second die member adjacent said stationary die member and providing punch means relatively aligned with said slot means, and means rotatably mounting said second die member for arcuate movement of said punch means generally in said direction and substantially at the lineal velocity of material movement past said stationary die member, to enter, traverse and withdraw from said slot means, the mutually adjacent edges of said slot and punch means, as said punch means ap- 'proaches said slot means, providing material severing edges whereby the trailing edges of tabs which are therebyformed integral with the material are depressed to one side of the portion of the material from which the tabs were formed.

3. The appaartus of claim 2 including movable supporting means mounting said second die member for relative movement to and from operative relationship with said stationary die member. 4. An apparatus comprising a stationary die member past which material to be operated upon is moved forwardly in a predetermined direction, said die member being provided with slot means, a second die member adjacent saidstationary die member and providing punch means relatively aligned with said slot means, means rotatably mounting said second die member for arcuate movement of'sa'id punch means to enter, traverse and withdraw from said slot means, the mutually adjacent edges of said slot and punch means, as said punch means approaches said slot means, providing materialsevering edges whereby the trailing edges of tabs which are thereby formed integral with the material are depressed to one side of the portion of the material from which the tabs were formed, movable supporting means mounting said second die member for relative movement to and from operative relationship with said stationary die member, and pressure means resiliently mounted on said supporting means such that upon movement of said supporting means to bring said second die member into operative relationship with said stationary die member, said pressure means resiliently presses a strip of material lnto frictional, relatively fixed, mutually superimposed engagement with a strip of material passing through the apparatus.

5. A stationary die member past which material to be operated upon is moved forwardly in a predetermined direction, said die member having a plurality of slots, the rearward portion of each of said slots, being closed and the forward portion thereof being open, a second die member adjacent said stationary die member, said second die member providing a plurality of radial projections aligned with each slot, means rotatably mounting said die member for arcuate movement of each of said projections into and through the respective slot with which it is aligned, the mutually adjacent edges of each of said slots and each of the projections aligned therewtih, as each of those aligned projections approaches that slot, providing material severing edges such that a plurality of tabs integral with such material is formed, the trailing edge of each of said tabs being depressed to one side of the level of the portion of the material from which it is formed.

6. The apparatus as set forth in claim 5 wherein the radial projections aligned with certain of said slots are arcuately misaligned, with respect to the radial projections aligned with other of said slots whereby movement of the material past said stationary die member rotatably drives said second die member.

7. The apparatus as set forth in claim 5 wherein said '7 second die member comprises a shaft and a plurality of square, sharp-cornered plates mounted for rotation about the axis of said shaft, the corners of said plates providing said radial projections.

8. A stationary die member having a surface along which material to be operated upon is moved forwardly in a predetermined direction, said die member providing a plurality of slots closed at one end and extending from the closed end through the forward edge of the die member, a second die member adjacent said stationary die member and providing a plurality of projecting portions aligned with each of said slots, said second die member being rotatably mounted for arcuate movement of said projections past said surface of the stationary die member and into and through the respective slot with which it is aligned, the mutually adjacent edges of each of said slots and each of the projections aligned therewith, as each of those aligned projections approaches that slot, providing material severing edges such that a plurality of tabs integral with said material is formed as the material severing edges of said projections move arcuately past said surface of the stationary die member, the projections provided by said rotatable die member being relatively angularly displaced with respect to each other sufiiciently that at least one projection is disposed in engagement with said material in any rotational position assumed by said rotatable die member whereby movement of the material along said surface rotatably drives said second die member.

9. An apparatus comprising a frame, a first die member along which a first strip of material is moved forwardly in a predetermined direction, said die member being mounted fixedly with respect to said frame, said die member being provided with slot means closed at the rearward end and open at the forward end thereof, a second die member adjacent said first die member, pivotal means mounting said second die member on said frame for relative movement of said second die member to and from operative relationship with said first die member, said second die member providing punch means relatively aligned with said slot means, said pivotal means rotatably mounting said second die member for arcuate movement of said punch means into and through said slot means, the mutually adjacent edges of said slot and punch means, as said punch means approaches said slot means, providing material severing edges whereby the trailing edges of tabs, which are thereby formed integral with the material, are depressed to one side of the level of the material from which they were formed, a pressure member, means resiliently supporting said pressure member on said pivotal mounting means for resiliently pressing a portion of a second strip of material into frictional, relatively fixed, mutually superimposed engagement with a portion of said first strip of material whereby movement of said first strip of material effects concomitant movement of said second strip of material.

10. The apparatus as set forth in claim 9 wherein said resilient supporting means includes an element rotatably supporting said pressure member, said element being rockably supported on said pivotal mounting means, means resiliently biasing said rockable element for move ment of said pressure member toward said portion of said stationary die, and adjustable stop means on said pivotal mounting means for limiting the extent of movement of said pressure member, relative to said pivotal mounting means, toward said portion of said stationary die.

11. The apparatus as set for in claim 10 wherein said means for resiliently biasing said rockable element also resiliently biases said pivotal mounting means for said second die member away from said first die member.

12. The apparatus as set forth in claim 11 including fluid-operated means connected to said pivotal mounting means for moving said second die member to operative relationship with said first die member and for moving said pressure member toward said portion of said stationary die.

13. The apparatus as set forth in claim 9 including a shaft journalled on said frame, said pivotal means mounting said second die member being journalled for pivotal movement on said shaft, means for rotatably driving said shaft and means connecting said shaft for rotatably driving said second die member.

14. An apparatus comprising a frame, a first die member along which a first strip of material is moved forwardly in a predetermined direction, said die member being mounted fixedly with respect to said frame, said die member being provided with slot means closed at the rearward end and open at the forward end thereof, a second die member adjacent said first die member, pivotal means mounting said second die member on said frame for relative movement of said second die member to and from operative relationship with said first die member, said second die member providing punch means relatively aligned with said slot means, said pivotal means rotatably mounting said second die member for arcuate movement of said punch means into and through said slot means, the mutually adjacent edges of said slot and punch means, as said punch means approaches said slot means, providing material severing edges whereby the trailing edges of tabs, which are thereby formed integral with the material, are depressed to one side of the level of the material from which they were formed, and means for resiliently pressing a portion of a second strip of material into frictional, relatively fixed, mutually superimposed engagement with a portion of said first strip of material whereby movement of said first strip of material effects concomitant movement of said second strip of material and the mutually superimposed strips are fed together between said die members.

15. A method of making a flying splice comprising the steps of continuously moving a first strip of material in a given direction, pressing a portion of a second strip of material into frictional, relatively fixed, mutually superimposed engagement with a portion of said first strip of material to cause said second strip to move concomitantly with said first strip at substantially the same lineal speed thereof, subsequently providing said moving, relatively fixed, mutually superimposed portions with means securing them together, and then terminating said step of pressing said portion of said second strip of material into frictional, relatively fixed, mutually superimposed engagement with said portion of said first strip of material as movement of said first strip of material continues to cause concomitant movement of said second strip of material.

16. A method of making a flying splice between two strips of material comprising the steps of continuously moving a first strip of material in a given direction, pressing a second strip of material into frictional, relatively fixed, mutually superimposed engagement with said first strip of material to move said second strip concomitantly with said first strip at substantially the same lineal speed thereof, then forming a number of pairs of coextensive tabs in said moving, superimposed strips, each of which tabs is integral at its leading end with the strip from which it is formed and depressed to one side of the superimposed strips at its trailing end, and terminating said step of pressing said second strip into frictional, relatively fixed engagement with said first strip whereby continued movement of said first strip maintains said strips in relatively interlocked relationship.

17. A method of splicing the trailing end of a first length of strip material to the leading end of a second length of strip material comprising the steps of continuously moving said first length of material in a given direction, pressing a portion of the leading end of said second length of strip material into frictional, relatively fixed, mutually superimposed engagement with a portion of the trailing end of said first length of strip material to 9 move said second length of strip material concomitantly with said'first length of material at substantially the same lineal speed thereof, then forming a number of pairs of coextensive tabs in said moving, mutually superimposed portions of strip material, each of which tabs is integral at its leading end with the strip from which it is formed and depressed to one side of the mutually superimposed portions at its trailing edge, and terminating said step of pressing a portion of the leading end of said second length of strip material into frictional, relatively fixed, mutually superimposed engagement with a portion of the trailing end of said first length of strip material whereby continued movement of said first length of strip material tends to move said first length forwardly relative to said second length of strip material, thereby to move the material of the first length of strip material immediately to the rear of each of the punched out pori0 tions against the corresponding tab of the second length of strip material.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS Re. 22,956 Salzer Dec. 30, 1947 5,625 Danforth June 13, 1848 238,417 Miller Mar. 1, 1881 1,203,688 Beugler Nov. 7, 1916 1,640,147 Fedders et a1 Aug. 23, 1927 1,901,514 Herman et a1 Mar. 14, 1933 2,265,052 Anderson Dec. 2, 1941 2,324,609 Watt et a1. July 20, 1943 FOREIGN PATENTS 702,443 Great Britain Jan. 13, 1954 

